Things Trump says...

[Benton]

(09-08-2017, 03:28 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Proof, please.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/783202/London-terror-attack-parliament-westminster-shooting-lone-wolf-ISIS

Quote:ISIS encouraging ‘home-grown’ or ‘lone wolf’ attacks as a response to losing territory and power is not a new tactic, with Al-Qaeda issuing a similar rallying cry when it faced decimation.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/01/media-coverage-terrorism-further-violence

Quote:Violence, so the saying goes, begets violence. Now evidence is emerging that suggests even the reporting of violence can trigger further attacks. Research has found that sensationalist media coverage of acts of terrorism results in more such acts being committed.

The study will prompt further debate about how the international media responds to atrocities. It also raises the possibility that media reports about a terrorist act can be viewed as a “warning” that follow-on attacks will be perpetrated in the near future.

https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/0117

Quote:In 1956, the Algerian insurgent Ramdane Abane wondered if it was better to kill 10 enemies in a remote village "when no one will talk about it" or "a single man in Algiers, which will be noted the next day" by audiences in distant countries who could influence policymakers.2 Terrorist plots are often carried out with the sole intention of being broadcast and reported—and many probably would not have been committed in the first place without the guarantee of media attention.

...

The way terrorist organizations exploit the 24/7 media cycle to spread fear and insecurity feeds the fundamentalists' raison d'etre. A study carried out before and after 9/11 on whether TV viewing changes public attitudes to security policy concluded that sensationalist TV stories on terrorism make Americans more hawkish: "The more TV they watched, the more hawkish were their views."4

There's been some discussion about this the last several years, mostly in the military and how to cut down terrorism, and in other countries. Not a lot here as very few major news outlets want to say "Oh yeah, we're extremists best recruiters!"

But the thinking is (basically): for terrorism to work you need 1. terrorists 2. people to be terrified. You can't get either one if nobody knows who you are. And the people in charge of terrorist organizations need people willing to die/get arrested to expand their network. No terrorists means no income, and what self-respecting terror leader wants to get into a jihad if he can't even pay the mortgage? So you've got to take credit for something, or at least find someone willing to elevate your group for an attack. The more you get elevated, the more employees you get. 

It's a pyramid scheme of violence. 

Terrorist groups have rallied around different things in the past. Sunni-Shiite differences. Jews. Christianity. Right now the way to shoot up the terrorism chart is: western Democracies. Recruits are told western Democracies are the cause for all the problems. And you've got a lot of groups right now hammering that message, so new groups grab onto it. And every time a western leader says "this is all because of terrorists" it gives a recruiter a chance to say "look, this is what we're doing and how much of an impact you can make." 

I don't have an answer for how to end terrorism, but recruiters use a variety of tools to fill in the lowest level of the pyramid. One of their chief ones is how effective terrorism is, which gets perpetuated every time an elected official jumps up and says something against Islam, the Middle East, etc. He's helping recruiters by promoting a 'us vs. them' idea.